Father Daughter Duo
by Faircrown
Summary: In which Kizashi Haruno is an ANBU Captain who worries too much about his pink haired daughter who aspires to become just like him. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Father Daughter Duo**

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> I do not own Naruto.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

_Just a little AU in which Kizashi Haruno is an ANBU Captain who worries too much about his pink haired daughter who aspires to become just like him. _

* * *

><p>Kizashi Haruno was itching to return home. He distinctly remembers that he had left a kunai on top of the kitchen island in his haste to leave the house for an emergency mission. His precious little one was too short to reach for it but knowing his daughter, he wouldn't be surprised to find out if she'd managed to climb on top of it to get her hands on the shiny steel. Sakura had always a fascination for his 'shinobi toys' and had a terrifying magnetic pull for all things sharp and pointy.<p>

He absentmindedly stabbed a kunai into an enemy's throat and when he pulled it out, he stared at the blood coated steel. What if Sakura had nicked herself with it and bled? What would he do then? Mebuki would ambush him in the afterlife and kill him there. Oh, how he misses his wife. She had died an early death just after Sakura had turned two. There was an outbreak of influenza and it had dragged her away from the land of the living in the dead of night. Now, he was left alone as a single hopeless parent of a daughter who plans to make a career out of mischief making.

After securing his white mask, which had come loose while he was fighting, he moved towards his subordinate who had just finished killing another one of the enemy. A casual glance around the area told him that all of the opponents had been taken care of. They were a large group of rogue nins that were creating havoc at the Fire Country's border. A group of ANBU were hardly necessary to take them out considering their low levelled status but at the time, his team was the only one available to deploy at such a short notice. The patrols that were stationed here had been outnumbered and had immediately requested backup.

"Are we done?" his teammate asked as he watched Kizashi wipe the bloody kunai on the grass before tucking it away in a hidden compartment of his ANBU issued boots.

"Not quite. We need to secure the perimeter and wait for another team of patrol to relieve us."

Despite his calm order, he ran a large calloused hand over his peculiar dull pink hair. Seeing the hint of aggravation in Kizashi's stance, his teammate laughed.

"Left your daughter alone again, Captain?"

Kizashi had half the mind to chide his teammate for mentioning his private life on field. As an ANBU, personal matters should never be discussed while on duty for fear of identification. Kizashi was a humble man but he knew that his name had been recorded in various versions of the bingo book. He had enemies he knew and did not know of that would love to off him and possibly target the people he cherish. There had been zero attempts so far but he had promised Mebuki to never let any harm befall their only child. Besides, he hated to risk Sakura like that.

However, a brief chakra scan and he knew that the area within hearing distance was at least cleared. There was only them and the approaching two people were their other teammates who had come to regroup. He ignored his masked teammate's question and started to issue orders to them. They would remain here for a few more days.

When three days had passed and the border secured from threats, the team returned home. They had travelled at full speed as usual and had suffered a barrage of bad puns courtesy of their captain. His subordinates glared at each other trying to find out who had triggered this infamous side of their captain, and a certain member inconspicuously tried to shrink away from their attention.

As they reached Konoha, they slowed down. The tall imposing gates greeted them and the minute they crossed over into the village, they were attacked. They were surprised when a pink blob of _something_ jumped on their captain with a loud roar. It took them a second to realize that the pink monstrosity was in fact a child with pink hair, large green eyes and chubby cheeks, and the roar was actually a cry of laughter.

The others stared incredulously while Kizashi sighed and detached his daughter from his leg.

"How did you know it's me?"

She giggled and Kizashi almost cried at the melodious song and was grateful that his face was covered. But his face was _covered._ The little girl giggled and exclaimed, "Your hair daddy, your hair!"

"Aa," he nodded in understanding. Perhaps he should consider hiding his hair next, or go bald. If even a six years old can recognize him, then he'd shudder to think about the enemy. Nah, it didn't matter. He was retiring after this mission anyway.

"Besides, I marked you!" She said as she stretched her arms wide, wanting him to carry her. He reached for her and cradled her small body in his arm.

"You marked me?"

"Yup," she confirmed proudly and pointed at a spot on his left shoulder where the strap of his grey vest was suspended, "Right here."

He turned to look at it and was surprised to see a small stick figure with pink hair crayon drawing on it. He remembered seeing that when he had hastily put it on but had dismissed it thinking that Sakura had simply ran out of things to draw on and had went after his uniform instead. He didn't bother cleaning it because it wasn't that big of a mess anyway. Besides he thought it was kind of cute.

His teammates seemed surprised too judging from the shared looks. Kizashi stared at Sakura's smiling face and wondered how she could think of something like this.

"And how did you know I was returning today?"

"Minato-sama told me!"

The Namikaze Hokage was a close friend of his despite being a few years younger. They had even competed for the title of the fourth Hokage but Kizashi had lost to him with a difference of a small amount of vote. Nevertheless he was happy and supportive of his friend. He knew Minato was fond of his daughter and there was no doubt that he had somehow taken care of Sakura while he was gone.

"Did you bother him for that information?"

"Ano, I may have cried a little," she murmured embarrassedly. He chuckled.

"Uh, Captain?"

He almost forgot that his team was still there with them. He turned to face them and found that they were staring intently at his daughter. They knew that their captain had a daughter but probably never knew how pink Sakura's hair was and how conniving she could be at times.

"Report to the Hokage. I will see him tomorrow. You are –"

"Dismissed!" Sakura suddenly shouted with an excited gesture of her hand pointing towards the air.

When all masked faces turned towards her again, she blushed furiously and squeaked, hiding her face in her father's chest. There was an amused chuckle coming from his team and they nodded before dispersing.

"Sakura-chan, next time wait for me at the house okay?"

"Mou, but I missed you so much!"

"Me too, blossom," he laughed and kissed his daughter on the cheek. In return, Sakura kissed his mask. "Where should we go now, Captain Sakura?"

Sakura swelled happily from the rank she now had been promoted to (because just being an academy student was definitely not an appropriate level for her, she thought). She mimicked the strict face her father always put on when he dictates her the way to properly hold a rubber kunai and with the most authoritative tone her squeaky voice can muster, she ordered,

"We will go home and you will cook dinner for us," and then pointing towards the general direction of their house, "Squad, advance!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Father Daughter Duo**

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> I do not own Naruto.

* * *

><p><strong>Summary:<strong>

_Sakura befriends Naruto and soon enough they're up to no good! Friendship NaruSaku, anyone?_

* * *

><p>Boss Naruto Namikaze was waiting for his right hand man on the swing. They were planning something shocking, something amazing, and something <em>big. <em>The whole village would surely be mighty impressed by their admirable feat and would soon crown him the title Hokage. And then, he was going to remove all those old wrinkly people from the council and replace them with cute, smart people. People like Sakura-chan.

And of course, his dad will work for him and mom can serve him ramen every day. They would be honoured.

He grinned to himself already seeing everything folding out in front of his bright blue eyes. He heard the huff and puff of someone running towards him while calling his name and turned to see them.

"Did you get everything?" He asked and jumped off the swing set and rushed to meet his right hand man halfway. Finally she has arrived. He was beginning to think that she was about to chicken out!

"Yup, yellow, peach and pink and everything else!" She exclaimed.

"Eh, where's the brown paint?"

"I asked but then I didn't have enough money so I just got these."

Naruto smacked himself in the forehead. His trusty right hand man can be such a goody two shoes at times.

"You should just tell them that the soon-to-be Fifth and ANBU Captain needs it. They'll give it for free, believe it!"

"Naruto no Baka!" She barked and he pouted.

Sakura-chan was cute and all but sometimes she didn't quite understand that he was Boss Naruto. But it's okay. Since she looked cute and knows awesome chakra stuff, he lets her call him that. By the way, did he tell her that she looks _cute_ today?

"Now, come on! Are we doing this or not?" Sakura yelled and threw him two cans of paint, a rope and some brushes. They were heavy and since he had been doing nothing he should carry more than her.

"Alright, let's go! Remember our plan, Sakura-chan. I'll use the rope and you use that sticky feet no jutsu to climb up the Hokage monument. And then, we'll –"

"I already know! Come on, recess is about to start. We don't have time before Iruka-sensei catch us!"

He cackled and set off with Sakura right beside him. It's going to be a blast!

* * *

><p>Minato Namikaze stared at the two paint drenched kids in front of his desk with a frown. Both of them had their head bowed to their laps and their hands clasped to their front guiltily. His son, Naruto, still had the rope tied around his midsection while Sakura was slightly swaying due to chakra exhaustion. He had ordered one of his men to get chairs for both of them so Sakura could sit down and for Naruto to stop shuffling on his feet.<p>

The door opened and a tall man with dull pink hair entered. He glanced sharply at his pink haired daughter once and when he was satisfied, proceeded to bow respectfully to his Hokage.

"Hokage-sama," he greeted.

"Kizashi, I suppose you've heard about today's… event," Minato winced. It felt weird having his senpai address him in such manner even after nearly a decade but a member of the council was present and all formalities were to put on the display.

"Aa, I have."

He noticed Sakura sunk deeper into her chair and he inwardly frowned. When he had went out today to do some grocery shopping, he didn't expect to meet the sight of brightly painted faces of a whiskered blonde and a pink haired on the Hokage Monument overseeing the village with their tongues sticking out, right next to the engraved face of the Fourth.

The streets were loud with talks and there were some yelling nearby. Shinobi were leaping from roof to roof in an attempt to subdue a small escaping kid – Naruto he presumed, judging from the loud voice and the _"I am the next Hokage, believe it!"_ declaration.

He didn't need to hear the people talking about the only pink haired kid in the village being involved as well, as if the painting wasn't large and telling enough, so he quickly continued with his task before returning home to drop off his load. Then he rushed here, thinking that enough time had passed and surely the authoritative figures had managed to catch the culprits by now. Indeed he was right.

The youngest Hokage in history sighed heavily, looking like he had aged ten years in the span of this morning.

"I apologize on behalf of my son for dragging your daughter into one of his schemes."

Kizashi shook his head and said, "That is not necessary. I'm sure Sakura had an equal part in this as well."

A loud throat clearing was then heard and an old man stepped out. He had grey hair and beard with a strict creased face.

"I believe a punishment is in order. These two had disrupted the village and committed vandalism. It is highly an atrocious act," Homura Mitokado announced.

"I assure you, Homura-san, that I have everything under my control. Your presence is not required here," Minato said tensely. He never really liked the councilman and it was just his luck that his partner, Koharu Utatane, was not present today. They are both too overbearing and are constantly breathing down his neck. Highly atrocious? This was only a prank!

"I don't believe so, Minato. Your son has gotten away from the trouble he had caused plenty of times. Consequently, he had managed to involve even Sakura Haruno into his agenda," Homura shot a glance at Naruto and Sakura with a displeased expression on his face. "Who knows what else they've been doing under the radar."

"They mean no harm, Homura-sama. They are only children," Kizashi interjected.

The elder man turned his attention to him and said, "I'm sure. But still, such a waste of talent. Your daughter –"

"Will finish her academy years," Kizashi swiftly interposed and turned towards the blonde Hokage, "Minato-sama, Sakura will arrive at six in the morning tomorrow to clean up the mess she had made. I will personally be watching her."

Homura pursed his lips and frowned. He watched the two younger men before him promptly discuss the penalty that was to be carried out. Expectedly, they were to clean the Hokage Monument.

"I'm sure Homura-san agrees to this?" Minato turned to him with an expectant gaze.

Homura had wanted to reap benefices from the trouble these two powerful children had caused but their parents were both treading carefully and stopping him before he could suggest anything else. Despite the chaos they had created today, it wasn't enough to warrant anything that he wanted to veto. The absence of his bull-headed partner was also pulling him slightly down. Reluctantly, he retreated and said,

"It is adequate."

"Good! Then if you can excuse us, Homura-san. We have a few things to discuss."

Knowing a dismissal when he saw one, the old man stiffly nodded and left the room with a vow that one day, he would get the Haruno child to serve the village as soon as possible and for that Namikaze boy to be completely contained.

Both Minato and Kizashi sighed when the door finally clicked shut. Naruto, who seemed to feel that the situation was cleared for him to talk without getting into additional trouble, quickly leaped up from his seat and swing his arms frantically in the air screaming,

"It's not Sakura-chan's fault! This is all my brilliant idea, I swear!"

"No, it's not! I came up with most of the idea!" Sakura exclaimed albeit tiredly. Her eyes blinked away the sleepiness so that she could scold Naruto for trying to take the credit all by himself.

"Shh, Sakura-chan. Let the future Hokage handle this," he waved his hand dismissively only to give a loud yelp when a fist bonked his head.

"And let me, future ANBU Captain, handle this, Naruto!"

Both the adults in the room shook their heads at their children's antics. Alone, the seven year olds were mischief makers, but together they make quite a loud, terrifying, devious duo. The Hokage swore that already, he had received a few resignation letters on his desk thanks to the mayhem these two caused today.

"Naruto, enough! Sakura-chan, please sit back down," Minato ordered.

The two children stilled, scrambled to their chairs and drop their heads back down. It wasn't always that the blonde haired man uses his Hokage voice. Naruto especially knew that he had lost the privilege of eating ramen for at least a month.

"You will both be cleaning the paintings by yourselves. I want it spotless by tomorrow."

"But dad!" Naruto whined.

"You made it, you undo it. That's final," he heaved a sigh for the umpteenth times today and said, "I am disappointed in you, Naruto. And Sakura, shouldn't you know better?"

Sakura whimpered. If Minato-sama was upset, then she couldn't imagine her daddy's reaction. She timidly glanced towards him and sure enough, he was silently staring at her. He didn't even said anything punny (funny + pun) like he usually does whenever she did something like this. Although she had to admit, maybe they'd gone too far this time.

"I'm sorry, Minato-sama, daddy," Sakura said quietly, eyes brimming with tears.

"Well, I'm not! I'm going to have my face there one day so you just better get used to it!"

"Naruto!" Minato warned but Kizashi interrupted and said,

"The only honourable way to earn the title Hokage is by respect and hard work. Did you think you did both of that today, Naruto-kun?"

"Psh-yeah! No one ever did what I did today and Sakura-chan even stuck to the walls long enough to help me do all that! They should _respect_ us for the _hard_ _work_ that we did!"

"Hm… Maybe. But you also ruined the village's landmark by painting all over it. And had men chasing both of you all over the village when they could've spent the time strengthening Konoha's walls," he continued on despite the sullen look that was beginning to wash over the children's face, "The trouble you have caused today not only made a lot of mess, but also put the village at harm.

"Now I could've stopped you but I'm not as young as I was. My joint hurts and are a little bit creaky and I have back pains. But I sure don't need a spine though, it's holding me _back,_" he chuckled heartily and when he looked at the others, he found that he was laughing all by himself.

"Ne, Sakura-chan. What's a spine?" Naruto whispered to his friend.

He cleared his throat when he saw Minato covered his face with one hand in exasperation. "Well, what I mean is you were both irresponsible and should learn a lesson."

At this, Minato nodded agreeing and supplied, "Therefore, you will both clean up the monument in addition to having remedial discipline classes in the academy for a week."

Naruto sputtered while Sakura nodded solemnly, accepting her punishment like a true future leader of the village's fighting corps.

"Naruto, you will begin your cleaning part today while Sakura-chan will continue tomorrow due to her state. I suggest you return home and get enough rest, Sakura-chan. I'm sure you learnt your own lesson about chakra manipulation today," Minato addressed Naruto before turning to Sakura.

The young girl was struggling from falling asleep, a sure result of chakra exhaustion. Although it wasn't severe but for a child with below average chakra storage, it was quite dangerous. If the medic beforehand hadn't told him that she was fine, he would've had her submitted into the hospital. Besides, Kizashi hadn't lost his head about Sakura's physical situation so he was assured that Sakura could hold on for a couple more minutes. If he didn't trust the hospital's medic, then he could trust Kizashi.

He stared at the young girl with concealed amazement. She was only seven years old but her chakra manipulation abilities could rival a genin. She was evidently smarter than her peers and probably those a few years above her and the chakra control talent of her father was clearly passed on. No wonder the councilmen were eager to get their hands on her. There was only so much he could do to protect her alongside Kizashi but he would do his best. He knew that the Haruno father would also do the same for his own son, Naruto. That little troublemaker.

"That is all. Sorry to bother you like this, Kizashi."

Kizashi just laughed and said, "No, no. It's partly my fault as well. These kids are tough aren't they?"

"Yeah," Minato smiled. "Alright, if that is all. You are –"

"Dismissed…" Sakura exclaimed tiredly, her arm limply lifted up to the air while she stifled a yawn.

All of the three males laughed. Kizashi picked her up gently and with a nod to Minato, left the room to head back home.

The sky was bleeding pink and orange signalling that night time was about to arrive. He walked at a languid pace, enjoying the breeze and the soft rise and fall of his daughter's chest against him.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Sakura-chan?"

"Are you disappointed in me?"

Kizashi instead asked her, "How far did you climb with your chakra?"

"Started from the bottom and ended up at the top," she said proudly. "Well, from the bottom of the top stairs actually," she admitted sheepishly and then gave a big loud yawn.

Kizashi chuckled at her confession. The Monument was far too high for her to climb even with chakra and he knew she was able to paint on the bare section of the mountain next to engraved faces by scaling the walls. It was considerably a shorter trip from the stairs that stopped at the base of the rock faces rather than climbing from all the way down. He was glad that she knew her limit.

"Very good," he complimented and then said, "But try to be more careful next time alright? Chakra exhaustion is dangerous and could result to death."

"I know, that's why I ran on the ground instead of jumping on the roofs," her next sentence were muffled by his shoulder in which she had rested on but he could still understand her, "I can't run on the rooftops yet, like Naruto."

"You will soon," Kizashi assured her.

Unlike Naruto, Sakura hadn't spent half of her life running away from angry caretakers and finding unconventional methods of escaping. Naruto may not yet know how to use his chakra but his mind map of the village were more elaborated than Sakura's. Somehow, he had a feeling that that wouldn't be the case soon, seeing how their friendship was progressing fast and how they were already attached at the hips. It hadn't been more than a few months that the children had finally made acquaintances despite their parents' relationship and already, they were making a name for themselves as the mischief couple.

Jealousy brewed inside Kizashi's stomach. He hoped that Naruto won't be placed at a higher priority than himself in Sakura's book. He certainly knew how to have fun too.

"Say, Sakura-chan. Want to train tomorrow after you're finished with your cleaning?"

Sakura was already snoring but he already knew the answer. She was his daughter after all. He smiled.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

_I've decided to make this sort of like a related one-shots(?). No plot whatsoever. Okay, maybe just a little plot. But probably nothing too big. Oh, and I need... I mean **Kizashi** needs some help with his puns. Why don't you guys share some of your favourites so he can get inspired! :)_

_Update: I tried to replace/update this chapter but somehow it didn't let me. So I had to delete and post it again. Sorry for the inconvenience guys! _


	3. Chapter 3

**Father Daughter Duo**

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> I do not own Naruto.

* * *

><p><strong>Summary:<strong>

_It's March 28th and Kizashi was determined to make his daughter's birthday perfect. Sakura meanwhile had a race against time in order to get back home!_

* * *

><p>Egg shells and flour covered the floor, dirty utensils littered the counter and the smell of something being burnt lingered in the kitchen as Kizashi sobbed pitifully while mixing the fourth cake batter that he already knew would taste like sad memories.<p>

He had tried everything and had followed the recipe to the letter but nothing was working out. The first cake was burnt and tasted like coal, the second one turned out too sticky it could glue a mouth shut and the third one exploded in the oven. He was beginning to give up hope on making the best, most delicious cake on earth for his daughter's 9th birthday.

He had started his tasks at 8 in the morning after Sakura had left the house for the academy but his attempts on the cake had taken him most of the time – eight hours, in fact – and they all had failed! He still had to pick up Sakura's gift from the blacksmith but at least his clone had decorated the whole house while he was trying to make the cake.

He thought that he could cook dinner right after he was done with the cake but clearly he wasn't able to anymore. He had wanted to make it special for his little girl so that she would know that her daddy loves her and would do anything for her. But at the rate that he was going, he would probably end up poisoning her rather than filling her up with deliciousness.

He glanced at the clock again and flinched when he saw the time displayed. An hour left before the academy session is over. He stopped mixing and dropped the whisker into the bowl before sinking into the ground, stunned. What was he going to do?! There wasn't enough time and even if he managed to come up with something edible, it wasn't going to be as perfect as he had wanted to. Sakura was going to have a bad birthday this year and would thought that he didn't care about her and would then disobey him and then run away consequently getting lost and be unhappy and it would be all his fault!

"Mebuki, I am a horrible father!" He wailed.

If only his wife was here, she would know what to do. She would know exactly what he had done wrong and what could be fixed. She wouldn't even be fazed about the short time because she would have everything under her control and could have it all perfectly done under thirty minutes. He missed the magnificent era of his pan-wielding wife and wanted nothing more than to return to it with Sakura back into her embrace, love and care.

"I don't know what to do, Mebuki. I'm failing. Without you there's no one to guide me," he sniffled and rubbed his nose, unaware of the cake mixture that had transferred onto his face from the action.

"All I want is to bake her a cake. If I can't even do that, then what else can I do for her?"

He stared into the small space front of him and imagined his wife sitting there, listening patiently to his woes. He could almost see it, her sleek blonde hair with a single bang falling into her beautiful face. Her sharp green eyes and small mouth set in a straight line as it always does whenever she was focusing on something, especially when she was paying attention to him. The mental image of Mebuki that he projected lifted her small hand and cupped his large face. He sighed, almost feeling her gentle touch.

"I need you, Mebuki," he whispered sadly.

She suddenly tensed and he saw that familiar tremor in her body. Her lips curved downwards and an intense fire burned in her eyes. His blue eyes widened when she let go of his face and curled her fingers into a fist. With a speed faster than lightning, her fist smashed down into his head. He yelped as if he could actually feel it and covered his head in fear of another hit.

"Ugh, even in death you still hit me, Mebuki," he groaned and sat back up, seeing his wife reluctantly drop her angry façade and grinned.

He chuckled. He'd like to wish that the spirit of Mebuki would hold him and give him a soothing smile to cheer him on but it wouldn't truly be his wife if it was like that. Mebuki Haruno would more likely beat him up to a vegetable state until he realized that he was stronger and more capable than he thought he was. And her gentle smile, firm hug and passionate kiss would only be rewarded once he did it right.

"I made a _grave_ mistake doubting myself, huh?" Kizashi grinned.

Seeing her glare on him, he rubbed the back of his head in a sheepish manner and said, "Ah, sorry, old habits die hard."

She huffed and he barked a laughter. Now that he was encouraged, he stood up and nodded determinedly. He created two clones and told each of them to clean up the kitchen and to go collect the birthday present at the blacksmith. He was going to take care of dinner. Another glance at the clock told him that he had about 45 minutes left. That's plenty of time to get everything perfect. Sakura's birthday will happen and it will be perfect, he thought firmly.

"_Good luck, Kizashi."_

"Thank you, Mebuki," he smiled.

* * *

><p>Sakura wanted to tear her hair out. She was really grateful that Naruto had gotten her a birthday gift but did he really have to drag her out to their customary meeting point (the swings at the playground) to give it to her? She had promised daddy that she was going to return home at 4 o'clock sharp.<p>

"Naruto, I really have to get home now!" She told him exasperatedly while clutching a bag of assorted flavoured ramen, the birthday gift that Naruto had given. "And why did you hide the present here? You could've just given it to me at school!"

"I would've but then Chouji would probably take them all like last year!"

"You can tell him it was for me!"

"But that wouldn't stop him, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura huffed and turned but Naruto stepped in front of her. "Are you sure you can't play with me today? Please, we'll only play for a few minutes!"

"No."

"Please!"

"No."

"PLEASE!"

Sakura screamed in annoyance and finally relented because the blonde had made it his mission to attach himself to her leg like a parasite. Naruto beamed and suddenly poked her on the shoulder yelling "NINJA TAG! YOU'RE IT!" before leaping away into the bushes. Sakura promptly followed with a battle cry.

Some time had passed when the pink haired girl finally realized that she was supposed to be home by now. She immediately stopped and jumped out of her tall hiding place (a really big tree) before yelling out Naruto's name. Said blonde suddenly appeared out of nowhere and charged towards her with his hand outstretched, determine to make her 'it'. Sakura simply avoided him by stepping to the side while holding out a left leg. He tripped over it, much to her amusement.

"Anyway, Naruto. I have to go now," she said ignoring his grumbling. When he begged for another few more minutes, Sakura firmly shook her head and told him,

"Sorry, I can't. I promised Daddy."

"Fine," Naruto sighed dejectedly.

Sakura waved the blonde goodbye and quickly made her way home. She hadn't realized before but the sky was now a bleeding colour of orange and pink. It was still bright enough but would soon turn dark. They had probably spent more than thirty minutes at the playground because Naruto no Baka had forgotten where he had hid the stack of cup ramen that morning. They finally found it in the bushes close to the small forest some distance away from the playground. And then they decided to play. If only Naruto wasn't so persistent!

Her house was quite far from the academy since it was located at the edge of the shinobi sector of the village. It usually took her around thirty minutes to get back home. She didn't know how much time had passed but could only hope that her dad wouldn't get angry if she was late. She doubted that he would be mad at her but she definitely knew that he would worry senselessly if she does. He wasn't known as the village's number one worrywart for nothing after all.

Sakura ran quickly so that she could get back home faster. She dodged some people, jumped over a sleeping dog and skidded to a stop before she could crash into a moving empty fruit cart. She quickly gained her pace and proceeded as if she hadn't been interrupted but the cycle repeats itself. The streets were busy since people were rushing to finish their daily routine. Sakura exhaled angrily through her nose when she had to stop again because it was too crowded for her to move through, even with her small body and agile feet.

She looked around hastily trying to find some way to pass. That was when she saw a team of shinobi passing by in a blur on the roof. She had only done that a couple of times with her dad since her legs were a little bit too short to be able to jump from one roof to the other, especially when the distances between the buildings were big. He would catch her if she ever miscalculates her leaps but it had only happened once before. She always made sure that she never makes the same mistake twice if she could help it. Besides, the extra training they made her attend even during the holidays (such as the one she was having today) at the academy had also made her confident.

Mind already set, she carefully channelled chakra to her feet and quickly climbed the wall right next to her. The woman who was hanging her clothes on the line yelped when the cherubic face of a child with pink hair suddenly popped over her balcony. Sakura grinned at her and quickly jumped to the rooftop after waving amiably at the woman.

Ignoring the woman's muttering about "weird shinobi children", she focused on the roof in front of her with a meter gap in between. She didn't need chakra for this one so she simply jumped over it with the help of her speed. The same thing applied for the next roof and then the next. Sakura only used chakra to make sure that her feet sticks properly to the slanted wooden surface of the roof so that she wouldn't fall down, just like how her father had taught her. Her movement became smooth and faster once she got used to it and bigger gaps between the rooftops were overcame with a simple practiced chakra application to her lower limbs.

The familiar view of her house soon came and she smiled widely. Hopefully, her dad hadn't sent for a team of search party yet. He did that once and it was really embarrassing. She was only playing in the forest of Konoha outskirts with her pet squirrel (which later ran away) and was only late for dinner for about ten minutes!

She quickly scaled down the wall of her house and barged through the door.

"I'M HOME!" She announced loudly before dropping to her hands and knees, panting heavily.

Wow, that was very tiring and it made her sweat buckets! She would need to eat a lot in order to replace the energy spent in her run. She grinned at the good excuse because the smell that had wafted to her nose was very tempting and delicious. Did her father made some sweet dishes for her? And was that shrimp tempura she smelled?

The sound of steps reached her ears and when she lifted her head, she was met with the towering figure of Kizashi Haruno. Sakura quickly straightened up and gulped after seeing the dark expression rolling over his face like dark storm clouds. Ah, perhaps she shouldn't doubt his ability to get angry the next time. Sakura glanced at the clock plastered on the wall and discovered that not only was she late, she was _two hours late_!

Oh, how time flies by…

"Sakura, where were you?"

"I was at the playground…"

"What time did you promise to get back home?"

"4 o'clock…"

"And what time is it now?"

"Almost six o'clock…?"

When Kizashi's unamused stare turned into a glare, she quickly tried to distract his thoughts by exclaiming,

"Wow, it smells nice! Did you cook today? Is it for me? I LOVE YOU, DADDY!"

She toed her shoes off and bolted towards him, attaching herself strategically and firmly on one of his legs. She looked up and flashed him her brightest smile, giggling when his angry stare relaxed and his lips curved upwards. He chuckled and ruffled her head fondly.

"Go get yourself cleaned up. I'll reheat the food and then we can celebrate your birthday," he told her.

Sakura nodded and quickly dashed to her room. When she was finished, she bounced her way to the dining room and plopped herself onto her favourite chair, only for her dad to pick her up and dump her in the seat in front of him claiming, "Hey, my chair. You know the rules."

"But I thought it's my birthday today?" She pouted.

Kizashi laughed and suddenly remembered this morning when he had barged into her room, jumping up and down on her queen sized bed while excitedly yelling that it was her birthday. She looked adorably disorientated for a couple of minutes after the abrupt wake up call but when she had caught on, she joined him jumping on her bed squealing happily.

He had promised that he would try to give Sakura whatever she wanted as long as it was reasonable. In his honest opinion, giving up his wonderful chair wasn't anywhere within distance of being reasonable so he simply stuck his tongue out childishly to which Sakura retaliated by doing the same.

Her disappointment flew out of the window when her eyes finally landed on the feast in front of her. Shrimp and vegetables tempura, _sekihan _(sticky rice with azuki beans), a dish of meat, tofu and vegetables and several other dishes that she didn't know the name of but looked positively delicious!

"Wow, you did this all by yourself?"

"Err, yeah. HAHAHAHA!" Kizashi laughed nervously but Sakura wasn't concerned about that. Instead, her head darted left and right for something round, sweet and delicious.

"But where's the cake?!"

"Wait here," he ordered and retreated back into the kitchen, "– and don't you dare try to steal my seat!"

Sakura grumbled and slowly slid back into her chair after getting caught. A second later, her green eyes widened when her dad appeared with the most magnificent strawberry cake she'd ever seen! Sakura clapped happily and watched eagerly as he placed it at the centre of the table.

"Cake first, dinner later!" Sakura exclaimed and quickly dived for the plastic cake knife but was stopped by a large hand.

Kizashi chuckled and told her that they should eat dinner first. Sakura pouted but agreed because as much as she wanted the cake, she also wanted to eat everything else on the table. Dinner was filled with laughter and it was finally time for the long awaited cake. She insisted that she go wash her hand again because it had gotten oily from grabbing the tempura before. She always liked to eat them with her hands instead of using chopsticks.

As she was washing her hand, she saw something that made her sniggered. Her dad was a decent cook but he always had trouble with elaborated dishes. No wonder everything was perfect tonight. _Oh, daddy._

When she finally went back to the dining room, it was darkened and the only source of light came from the candles on the cake. She went to it and beamed up at her dad.

"Make a wish, blossom."

Sakura closed her eyes and clasped her hands together in front of her chest. She wished really hard, chanting it inside of her head three times before opening her eyes and blowing the candles out. They both cheered and when the light came back on, Kizashi was holding something behind his back. Sakura instantly grinned, already knowing that it was her birthday present.

"Gimme!"

When she got her hands on the pretty wooden box, she ooh-ed and ah-ed at the intricate cherry blossom details engraved on it. When she opened it, she gasped. Inside the box was six sharp kunai and shuriken. She carefully picked one kunai up and stared at the handle of it. Like the box, there were petals of cherry blossom engraved on it beautifully.

Kizashi smiled at his daughter's amazed face. He knew that she would like the gift because she had been begging for him to change her practice weapons with real ones, just like his. He had thought that she was still young and inexperienced to handle real kunai and shuriken that could potential slice her fingers off but he had trained her properly to know that she would be careful with them.

Just in case though, he recited his rules and caution to her once again as she gripped the handle of the weapon. He felt his concerns lessen when she nodded in understanding and judging by the cautious way she was handling her gift, he already knew that there wouldn't be much of a problem.

Slowly, as if worried that she might accidentally scratch it, she placed it back inside the box and closed it. Then she went and hugged him.

"Thank you, daddy. I love it!"

Sakura felt really happy tonight and it showed by the way her eyes sparkled and her smile didn't seem like it'll ever drop anytime soon. Sakura knew her dad had been disappointed at her when she had arrived back home late. He was really strict on promises and punctuality. She usually get chastised a lot if she did something wrong in that arena.

And because he had ignored her blunder this time, she ignored the boxes of takeout from the fancy restaurant that she saw in the bin as well.

She kissed him on the cheek and he gave her one on the nose. Best birthday ever!


	4. Chapter 4

**Father Daughter Duo**

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> I do not own Naruto.

* * *

><p><strong>Summary:<strong>

_Sakura is frequently bullied due to her large forehead and weird pink hair. Facing the kid's teasing is even harder because she is just too shy. Let's see what happens when the kids bother her again one day and what's this? She met someone whom she first thought was a ghost but turned out to be a friendly hero... and she also made a new friend?_

* * *

><p>Ten minutes had passed when she finally stopped crying and slowed down into silent sobs. She wiped the tears and snot from her face with her sleeves and then stared forlornly at her scraped palms and knees. She was several meters inside the forest of Konoha's outskirts and had no means to tend to her injuries. She wished she had her father's medical chakra so she could heal herself. She could use chakra like her dad but she couldn't do awesome ninjutsu with them. All she could do with hers were stick to walls and trees and run on water. If only she wasn't so weak…<p>

Sakura rubbed her eyes and yawned. She was tired from all the running. The kids had chased her all over the village, making fun of her hair and forehead. Sakura would usually stand up to them but without Naruto, it hadn't been easy. He was away with his parents on some business trip to Suna. As a result, they had pushed her until she had fallen on her hands and knees. It had hurt a lot but she didn't dare tell them fearing that it would egg them on. When they reached out to start grabbing her hair, she ran with them hot on her heels relentless teasing her.

Sakura didn't understand why they hated her so much. When Naruto was around, they wouldn't bother her and would sometimes treat her politely but distantly. But when her blonde friend was absent, it became extremely clear and voiced that they didn't like her. They called her ugly, weird and a know-it-all. Naruto told her that they were just jealous because they weren't unique and were threatened by her intelligence. Still, she didn't think it was necessary to hurt her so much because of it.

Sakura had no other friends other than the Namikaze family and her dad. She was pretty much ignored by her peers at school though she couldn't blame them. Perhaps it was hard to relate to someone younger than them. Naruto was placed in his correct year but Sakura had advanced two years ahead of him, placing herself in a class of eleven year olds effectively cutting herself off from people her age.

While during lunch and recess she had Naruto to play with (and sometimes, with some of his nicer friends), during classes she was alone. No one sat with her and talked to her and she was always the last one left to be partnered up with the teacher during sparing, unless instructed otherwise. She thought they did that because they saw that she liked to focus in class and she had convinced herself so. Now, she had to face the truth that she was just unlikeable.

Sakura frowned and gathered her legs up to her chest. She wanted to be friends with the other kids because she felt alone playing by herself. She was never bored to tears when she was with Naruto but a single friendship with the blonde could potentially prove lethal to her brain. When she saw others playing in groups, she wondered why she had only one friend. And even when she had played with some of Naruto's friends, it hadn't been the same. She felt like an outsider because they rarely played together. She could count with one hand the amount of times that they had.

Was she the problem? Is pink really a freak colouring? She brushed the bangs away from her face and with her thumb and pointer finger, measured the size of her forehead. She then pulled her fingers in front of her face and stared at the distance between the two digits. Maybe they were right, it really was large. Her fully stretched fingers confirmed that for her. She sighed sadly and dropped her head to her knees.

She remembered one girl, a loud confident pretty blonde with clear blue eyes. Ino Yamanaka was her name. She was just like Naruto and had a lot of friends. She was well liked and it was proven by the large circle of people always surrounding her. Sakura had played with her once, when Naruto had dragged her to the field.

She thought that Ino was nice. She had given tips to Sakura about flower arrangements for her kunoichi classes. But that was it, she never interacted with Ino after that because there was no other opportunity. She saw her today at the park but the girl was so far away that Sakura couldn't talk to her. And she didn't know if she would have the courage to if Ino was near either. If only she was like Ino… then maybe she wouldn't be like this.

The rush of a wind blew past her and she shivered. Glancing around, she was reminded that she was in the forest outside of Konoha. This was technically still in Konoha because after the Konoha village main gate, there was the guarded border. She had been here once before several months ago, an end result of chasing a cute chubby squirrel that she was determined to have as a lifelong companion. It had terribly upset her when it had ran away a couple of days after they had just became friends.

Her dad had scolded her for running outside the village main gates. He said that while it was technically still Konoha (the main and only point of her childish yet incredibly smart argument), it was dangerous to be out here. Sakura had cried when he had used a very severe tone to reprimand her with but was comforted when he softened and told her that he was only doing that because he had been worried. Anything could happen to her and he wouldn't be there to protect her. The thought had been scary to him and it was scary to her as well. But she still secretly thought that he was overreacting.

She finally saw the wisdom in his words because in a sudden flash of movement, a hooded figure suddenly appeared in front of her face. She screamed in alarm and scrambled backwards into the rough tree bark that she had leaned on. She saw a hand outstretched as if to grab her so she bravely slapped it away and stood up. She dodged to the left and ran but forgot that she was tired and had been sitting for a long time. Her legs were jelly so she tripped over herself. Sakura winced when the ground scratched her soft skin.

She felt a pair of hands grabbed her and pulled her up. When her feet met the ground, she quickly tried to bolt again. She was scared that the hooded person will catch her and was willing to ignore the pain on her hands and knees. They were covered in black and the large hood was casting a shadow over their masked face; an embodiment of the ghost in the scary stories her dad had told her.

Before she could even manage a few steps, she felt a strong tug on the back of her shirt effectively stopping her from escaping.

"Maa, so fast."

It was a man, a very scary man. She could tell from his deep intimidating voice and the strength in his hold. She felt him turn her around and when she saw his arm, she immediately did what was instinctual to her – she bit him hard. Sakura knew her teeth were made of titanium. She brushes them every day and eat a lot of healthy food so they were pearly white and strong. She bit a boy who had teased her once (copying Naruto who did it to her other bully) and he had cried. That was why she was surprised when her mouth hurt when she buried her teeth into his arm. She yelped and jumped back while covering her aching mouth. Renewed tears sprung into her eyes.

"Ah, you probably shouldn't do that. Metal guards," he lifted his arm and tapped it, "See?"

There were many ways that she could escape this scary man as was taught in the academy but he was bigger and faster than her. He was probably armed too. Realizing a little too late that she shouldn't have passed the main gates and remained within the safe walls of the village, she stared wide-eyed at him.

He suddenly chuckled.

"You're Sakura-chan, aren't you?"

Sakura froze, part scared and part curious. How did he know her name? The man then pulled his hood down to reveal an ANBU masked face with messy white hair. She blinked.

"I'm your father's… friend," he told her.

And all of a sudden, the dark cloaked ghost wasn't so scary anymore. Perhaps to another child who had never seen an assassin in his ANBU regalia, it would be terrifying and mind-numbing but to Sakura, the effect of the soulless mask, crimson spotted clothing and dangerous weapons were dulled to the point that the cold blooded killer looked just like any other person she had just met. In fact, she regarded the mask as a mystery, the stained uniform as proof of hard work and the weapons as a protector. ANBU to her, were saviours. Just like her dad.

So she beamed at him and excitedly said, "Did you just came back from being hero in the shadows?"

Sakura had no way of knowing that the man's face had twisted into shock and had totally missed the bare movement of a flinch. However, he recovered within seconds and regarded the smiling innocent little girl in front of him. Hero in the shadows, huh?

"Yeah," he replied simply.

Perhaps the term 'ANBU' to her had an entirely new meaning. It wasn't his place to correct her. Captain Haruno obviously had his reasons, he thought staring at the brightly coloured pink haired girl.

"What are you doing out here?"

She suddenly stopped smiling and dropped her head to stare at her small feet. She didn't answer him and just stood there, making things awkward for him.

"Ah, do you want to go back in?"

She nodded and began to follow him when he stood up. However, her steps quickly faltered when she felt pain lanced through her entire being. The countless nasty falls she experienced today were beginning to tax her small body and she let out a whimper. The ANBU seemed to notice and stopped in his track. Seeing her trembling form, he sighed and knelt down, giving his back towards her. He never meant to ignore her wounds but he figured if this child was anything like her strong-minded father, then those little injuries shouldn't keep her.

He had heard of her before. Never personally met the young Haruno but her name did circulate amongst the members. Her relation to the recently former Captain of ANBU probably attributed to that in addition to his overly protective display. There were also talks about her talent with academics and chakra. She didn't look like much; no muscles, fast enough for a kid but extremely slow reflexes and ridiculously small. And let's not forget about her blinding colour. Unlike her, her father was more darkened and his dull pink hair could adjust with the shadows. This girl however looked like a neon target practice.

Well, at least she looked cute. If cute meant being a little girl.

He waited for her to climb on his back but was surprised when she instead went by his side and grabbed his hand.

"Won't your hand hurt?" He asked.

She shook her head and gave a tentative smile. "Not this one. It's only a little scratch."

He shrugged and stood up. Then, as an afterthought, pulled the little girl until she was settled in an awkward hold in his arms. When the girl wiggled and told him to put her down because she could walk on her own and she was fine, he merely shrugged and said,

"You're slow."

She fumed and he ignored her, walking at a moderate pace towards the village. After a few minutes, the girl stopped struggling and began to babble about squirrels, trees and more squirrels. The ANBU nodded mindlessly, his hand itching to reach into his pouch for his favourite reading material but restrained himself because the girl was now gesturing wildly with her hands. If she slip from his arms it was going to be a long fall.

When the tall imposing gates finally came into view, he knew he had made a right decision because there, waiting at the main gates with his arms crossed and eyes glaring in all his mother hen-like glory, stood Kizashi Haruno.

"Daddy!" The girl in his arms cried excitedly oblivious to the red anger radiating from him and the presence of the two blondes behind him.

However, when they were only a few metres apart, Kizashi's bubbling anger seemed to deflate rapidly from the sight of his daughter.

"Sakura!"

"There, I told you she went this way!" One of the blonde exclaimed pointing towards them.

They were already at the main gates when Kizashi approached them and took the little pink haired girl from the ANBU. As expected, the Haruno man immediately caught sight of the bleeding hands and knees. Without wasting time, he knelt until he was to his daughter's height and began healing the wounds, all the while shooting a thousand question per second. Sakura didn't answer him but instead stared at the pretty blonde curiously.

"Ino-san?"

"Hey! Are you alright? Sorry, I couldn't keep up. You were running so fast!"

"Huh?" Sakura tilted her head to the side, not understanding the situation.

"I saw you getting chased by those stupid kids so I tried to help but you were too far away then. So I went to get your dad. I didn't know where he was or what he looked like so I asked my dad's help," she pointed towards a tall long haired blonde man who was talking to the gate guards, "Then I told them I saw you running this way."

She then edged closer to Sakura and whispered, "By the way, did you know that your dad's hair looks like the flower like your name? Is that why he calls you Sakura?"

Sakura then turned to her dad who was now muttering something about stupid guards and stupid permissions to exit the gates.

"How did you get out, anyway?" Ino then asked in her normal volume.

Sakura shrugged and said, "I just did."

"That's weird. You need clearance to get out of the village. Did you have a pass?"

Sakura shook her head and said, "No."

Ino then hummed and stared at her curiously with her pretty blue eyes. When her father suddenly cupped her face with his large clammy hands, she turned her attention to him.

"Sakura, what did I say about leaving the village?"

"That I should never leave the village?"

"Exactly. Then why didn't you listen to me?"

"It's not my fault…" she muttered and looked down.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were…?" He didn't finish the question, immensely hurt from the fact that he was unaware that his precious daughter was having trouble with her peers. He didn't understand why, she was such an angel.

"I always hear people making fun of her because of her hair and forehead so I keep telling them to stop but they don't listen. Sakura never gets bullied much when Naruto is around though. But he's absent at school today and yesterday too so they all got really brave," Ino supplied.

Kizashi frowned but then gave a small smile when the little Yamanaka said, "But don't worry about that anymore Haruno-san. From now on, I'll knock down anybody who tries to mess with my friend!"

"Really, we're friends?" Sakura gasped.

"Of course, why wouldn't we be?"

Sakura beamed happily and the blonde grinned back.

"Hey, come here. I want to give you something," Ino said and grabbed the girl by her healed hand a few distance away.

Kizashi watched them chatting animatedly with a sad smile. He stood up and sighed. He was aware that Sakura didn't have many friends but blamed himself for not knowing what was going on with his daughter's social life until recently. She always seemed so happy at home. He promised himself that he would protect Sakura even more. He had been deathly worried when Inoichi had ran to him and told him that Sakura was in trouble. He had felt his heart dropped when the younger Yamanaka said Sakura was being chased and was running towards the village's main gate.

He had asked frantically towards the gate guards if they'd seen a small pink haired child running outside the village but they had told him no and assured him that if she did, they would know. But luckily, Ino had vehemently protested and said that she had really seen Sakura running towards this direction and believed that she might've passed the gates.

Inoichi had offered to look around the area and had went ahead, leaving a very angry Kizashi to deal with the guards. He had unknowingly leaked killing intent that caused the men to cower in fear and yet, they still refused him (while trembling in their soiled pants) to go outside to search for his daughter when he demanded it. It was against protocol and if he left without permission from the Hokage, he could be charged with treason. But he didn't care and had decided to leave the village's gates anyway. That was when he sensed two familiar chakra in the distance and soon, saw the figure of a man carrying his daughter.

He turned his head to regard the ANBU who was now leaning against a post while reading an orange book. He smirked at the familiar scene. Although the younger man had only recently picked up this habit, at least only two or three years ago, it seems like he had been doing this all his life. The image of him with that perverted book was already cemented as his norm. It was an annoying habit but it was at least better than say... being constantly late. Tardiness was something he could never stand.

"Thank you for saving my daughter," Kizashi expressed his gratitude and bowed.

"Ah, you don't need to do that Captain. I only found her sitting on the ground."

Kizashi smirked and corrected him, "I'm not a Captain anymore. Those days are over. Just call me Kizashi."

The ANBU shrugged and nodded. Then, Sakura came running towards them yelling, "Daddy, daddy, look!"

She skidded to a stop in front of him and pointed to her head that was now adorned with a red ribbon. Her forehead that was always hidden beneath her bangs was now bared.

"Very pretty, Sakura-chan!" He complimented with a grin.

"Um… you don't think that it makes my forehead look bigger?"

"What? No, of course not!"

"But it's so big, see?" She showed him her stretched fingers after measuring her forehead that was admittedly, slightly larger than most.

Kizashi did the same with his own fingers, looked at the small space in between and said, "Looks pretty small to me. Your fingers are too short, Sakura-chan."

"Really? It looks okay?" She then turned to the masked person and asked, "What do you think ANBU-san?"

Caught off-guard by the question, he stared at her hopeful doe eyes and then to her forehead. Insecurities about a large forehead, huh? To be honest, she should more be concerned about her training. But little girls are different, he supposed.

"Ah, you look cute."

She beamed and then giggled before turning towards Ino who had come to join her exclaiming, "You're right, Ino. You're right!"

"Of course I am! Besides, the main point is to be confident!"

"That's very true, Sakura-chan." Inoichi said as he approached them, having finished dealing with the traumatized gate guards. Let it be a lesson to everyone that a worried father, who was also a formidable former ANBU Captain, should never be angered and denied.

He then smiled at Sakura, the question of how a tiny kid even smaller than his own could bypass two Chuunin levelled guards so easily lingering at the back of his head.

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind," she nodded firmly, eyes blazing with determination.

"Ah, I guess I should go now. Hokage-sama should be expecting me."

"Go ahead."

The ANBU nodded and then disappeared from sight with a trail of smoke.

"Cool!" Both girls exclaimed and then Sakura turned to her father, "Daddy, can you teach me that?"

"Can you teach me that too, dad?" Ino asked the same towards Inoichi.

The two parents laughed and then said,

"You'll learn that soon."

"That's right."

The two Yamanaka soon retreated with a wave and a promise of a playdate from the younger blonde, leaving the pink haired father daughter duo. Sakura was humming happily while Kizashi occupied himself with his thoughts.

"Sakura-chan, I was very worried today."

Sakura stopped her humming and then lifted her head up to stare guiltily at her father.

"I'm really sorry. I promise I won't go beyond the gates again."

"No, one day you will be able to leave the gates once you are a kunoichi. I don't want to trap you inside," Kizashi sighed, worried that Sakura might perceive this issue the other way around.

"What I meant was, I'm worried about you. I know that I'm not always there to watch after you and it was my mistake to not notice that you were having problems with your friends. How come you never mentioned it to me before?"

"Because I never noticed. I always have Naruto," she told him, being half truthful. It was true. Naruto was usually always there for her and she never noticed she was being bullied until recently. Although she always knew people didn't like being around her.

Kizashi nodded. He didn't know how other parents usually deal with this kind of things, but with Sakura, he always made sure that she knows what he thinks about certain matters and would in turn listen to her perspective through a child's pair of eyes. It wasn't easy, and he often loses his temper and worry incessantly.

"But now I have Ino! And she told me we're going to play with her other friends at the playground tomorrow. I met them once and they're really nice," she told him with a wide exuberant smile.

"Why didn't you play with them before?"

"They're in a different grade and my grade always finish later than theirs. Besides…" she began to mumble something but Kizashi managed to catch her words. Turns out his daughter is a lot shyer than he thought she was.

He also knew of course that with her strict schedule and her own heavy interest with studying, she would miss a lot of playtime consequently limiting herself of social interactions with kids her age. This would never be a problem if the council hadn't insisted that she skipped a couple of grades and had allowed her a normal childhood like he had wanted. But his hands were tied. He was after all, only a first generation shinobi with no influential powers with the exception of his former status as ANBU Captain. And that obviously hadn't been enough.

He was snapped out of his sullen thoughts when he felt a tug on his shirt. He looked down and saw Sakura smiling at him.

"Don't worry, daddy. I'll be alright."

He nodded and ruffled her hair. Of course she will. He'll make sure of it from now on.

"By the way, did you know I came in first in the written exam? I found out today! I got 96 points!"

"Good job, blossom! On which subject?"

"Physics! And I also got 98 points for math!"

"That's amazing! I don't know how you're so good. When I was in the academy, I failed my mathematics test so many times I lost count!"

Sakura giggled and went on to tell him about some theories and algorithm that he couldn't keep up with and was not sure if a kid her age should be studying. He listened and nodded anyway. Kizashi thought himself as intelligent but he was sure when he was her age, he was busy throwing mud pies at girls, happily not involving in anything scholastic. Sakura obviously took after Mebuki, because the first time he threw a mud pie at her, she was reading a book.

He smiled.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

_To be honest, I thought this chapter was a little boring but I wrote it anyway. And it somehow ended up getting around 4k.*slaps forehead* I didn't want to update because I wanted to mark this story as Complete. I don't know if people still want to read any more of this. If you do, tell me. It'd be nice to know why you like it and what you think of it _as well_. Maybe I'll continue writing then. :)_

_And, err, Naruto physics is... something us normal people will never understand and of course they should do math as well. Math exists in all universe. XD And apparently Sakura is awesome at it. _


End file.
